What du'a do I say for someone who is sick?

The Sunnah gives two du'as for visiting someone who is sick. The one the Prophet ﷺ used most often was "Adhhib al-ba's, Rabb al-nas, ashfi anta al-Shafi…" — and for a sick person whose time has not come, the Prophet ﷺ named a second: "As'al Allah al-'Azim, Rabb al-'Arsh al-'Azim, an yashfiyak," said seven times.

The du'a the Prophet ﷺ said most

اللَّهُمَّ أَذْهِبِ الْبَاسَ، رَبَّ النَّاسِ، وَاشْفِ أَنْتَ الشَّافِي، لاَ شِفَاءَ إِلاَّ شِفَاؤُكَ، شِفَاءً لاَ يُغَادِرُ سَقَمًا"O Allah, remove the harm, Lord of mankind. Cure, for You are the One who cures. There is no cure but Your cure — a cure that leaves no illness behind."— Sahih al-Bukhari 5750, from 'A'ishah رضي الله عنها

The wording is reported in several collections with slight variation — Sahih Muslim 2191, Sunan Ibn Majah 3520, and Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3565, where the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said it when he visited a sick person. The version in Sunan Abu Dawud 3890, taught by Anas to Thabit as the Prophet's ﷺ ruqyah (a recitation said over the sick), opens "O Allah, Lord of mankind, Remover of harm."

What the words are doing

Each phrase answers the one before it. "Remove the harm" asks for the illness itself to go, not merely to be endured. "Lord of mankind" names Allah by the relationship that matters here — the One who owns and governs the very people He is being asked to heal. "You are the One who cures" places the cure with Allah alone, which is why the du'a does not ask a doctor, a remedy or a person for it. And "a cure that leaves no illness behind" asks for completeness: not relief that returns, but a healing with nothing left of the sickness.

The du'a said seven times

أَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ رَبَّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ أَنْ يَشْفِيَكَ"I ask Allah the Magnificent, Lord of the Magnificent Throne, to cure you."— Sunan Abu Dawud 3106, from Ibn 'Abbas رضي الله عنهما

The Prophet ﷺ said that no Muslim visits a sick person whose appointed time has not yet come and says this seven times at his side, except that Allah cures him of that illness. Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2083 carries the same narration and grades it hasan; al-'Ayni, commenting on it in his explanation of Sunan Abu Dawud, notes the condition "whose time has not come" — for a person whose appointed time has arrived, the du'a does not delay it, though it still benefits the one who visits and the one visited.

How to say them

The two are not alternatives you must choose between; the scholars encouraged saying whatever du'a one wishes for the sick, and al-'Ayni notes the best of it is to name the person: "O Allah, cure So-and-so." The Prophet ﷺ also placed his hand on the sick person's forehead and wiped his chest and stomach as he prayed — al-'Ayni draws from the narration of Sa'd that placing the hand on the patient's brow and wiping him is recommended, and the du'a for Sa'd was

"O Allah, cure Sa'd, and complete his migration" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5659)

Say it at the bedside: the seven-times du'a is specified for when you visit the sick person, not from a distance.
Say it seven times: the count is in the narration itself; do not add to or reduce it.
Name the person if you wish: "O Allah, cure [name]" is the form al-'Ayni prefers.
Repeat it as often as you visit: nothing limits it to one occasion.

Key takeaways

The most reported du'a for the sick is "Adhhib al-ba's, Rabb al-nas, ashfi anta al-Shafi, la shifa' illa shifa'uk, shifa'an la yughadir saqaman."
For a sick person whose appointed time has not come, say "As'al Allah al-'Azim, Rabb al-'Arsh al-'Azim, an yashfiyak" seven times at his side.
Both are sound narrations — Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.
You may name the sick person in the du'a, and place your hand on him as the Prophet ﷺ did.
The cure is asked of Allah alone; the du'a itself says so.

What du'a do I say for someone who is sick?

More questions